'We had to do it for him'

Obese teens seeing results from UIC gastric band program

Christy Breithaupt

Mack Downey cannot stop staring at himself in the mirror. At
first glance you might think he was a little narcissistic-and Mack
would probably agree he's being overindulgent.

But Mack wasn't always like this. In fact, less than a year ago,
he weighed 104 pounds more than he does now and was gaining weight
at an average of 50 pounds per year.

"I used to have low self-esteem. It used to be terrible," says
Mack, 16, of Columbus, Ohio. "I would just get into trouble for no
reason at all. They [classmates] just beat me down to the point
where I just didn't care anymore. Now I'm overconfident I think. I
feel like another person."

Weight has been a battle for Mack for as long as he can
remember. By 9, he and his mother knew they had to do something.
They tried fitness camps, programs at the National Institute of
Health and a "fat camp" where Mack lost a lot of weight but started
gaining it back the minute he got home.

Desperate, his mother turned to the Web to find other options.
What she found was the New Hope Pediatric and Adolescent Weight
Management Project at the University of Illinois Medical Center in
Chicago. The program's success hinges on the surgical planting of a
gastric band.

Mack fought the idea, but his mother pushed ahead.

"It was necessary. The program likes for your children to be on
board because it's much easier if they're going to work with it.
But we had decided whether he was on board or not this is what we
were going to do," Jacqueline Downey says. "We had to do it for
him. I don't think he'd make it to 30 if we hadn't."

The UIC program is for teens who are morbidly obese and normal
diet and exercise will not control their weight gain. Children who
enter the program first undergo nutritional training-they will be
expected to continue exercising and eating well after the surgery
is over.

According to Dr. Allen F. Browne, clinical director of the
project, by combining diet, exercise and the gastric band there is
an 80 percent chance that a child can take off 60 percent of their
excess weight.

The adjustable gastric band works by creating an hourglass
stomach, Browne says. The stomach becomes a small upper pouch
connected through a small channel to a large lower pouch, which
then goes on through the intestine normally. The trick, he says, is
that when the upper pouch fills up, a signal goes to the brain that
tells the patient they are full.

The surgery is approved for kids 14 and older and most patients
have no side effects. The band can be adjusted as the child ages to
control weight gain and loss.

"These kids ... have to be brave enough to come through the door
after they've failed and been told they were failures and been told
they were bad and lazy and dumb. The way they've been treated by
not only society but by the healthcare system is truly shocking as
you get to know them," Browne says.

"We tell the kids nobody fails and nobody flunks out."

It's amazing, he says, to watch the changes after surgery. The
kids are so proud of themselves.

Mack certainly wouldn't argue with Browne. In fact, he plans on
telling his tale to other kids like him to help them through the
process. And he's prepared to do something no teenager wants to
do-to admit his mom was right.

"Most of the stuff that happens to me on a daily basis wouldn't
happen to me without my mom," he says. "It's awesome having a
person like that in your corner, someone who will go to bat for
you. I got a keeper."

Weighing your options

The LapBand is only approved for use in patients 18 years old and
over. The FDA has offered no opinion on its use in younger
patients. The University of Chicago, New York University and Morgan
Stanley Children's Hospital are the only institutions providing
information to the FDA on use of the adjustable gastric bands in
younger patients (ages 14-17) at this time.

Soon, a study sponsored by the Allergan company, makers of the
LapBand, will begin to provide more data to the FDA. This study
will involve seven institutions from around the country, including
UIC.

Benefits
• With an adjustable gastric band, the patient has an 80 percent
chance of losing 50-60 percent of their excess weight.